Video: Resilience in an Age of Permacrisis: Naming Grief, Inviting Lament

“How long, O Lord?” is a question that resounds through the Psalms. With wars, rumors of war, international upheaval, and crises on state and local levels, suffering is reverberating in our churches, on our streets, and in our homes. Where is the space to grieve, to lament the suffering we witness and the suffering we experience? This panel discussion offers space to reflect on how current events impact the mind, body, and spirit. Our panelists will address practical ways to deal with burnout, compassion fatigue, and feelings of helplessness. We pray this time together draws us closer to our Lord who journeys with us in our sorrows and is “acquainted with grief.”

During our current “permacrisis” — an extended period of overlapping global, social, and personal upheavals in which normal cycles of recovery no longer apply—the panelists invite us to name and honor our grief and disorientation, recognizing that the absence of a clear end to crisis can lead to burnout, numbing, or despair. They emphasize that lament is a way of staying engaged with pain rather than escaping it — and that through lament we open space for collective resilience and meaning, rather than simply trying to “get through” to the next thing.

The panel offers practices and frameworks for churches, communities and individuals to live into resilience while still honoring vulnerability. They explore themes like compassion fatigue, the need for contemplative traditions, the role of lament in faith communities, and how institutions might build capacity for sorrow without becoming cynically hardened. Indeed, true resilience isn’t about bouncing back to “normal,” but about holding tension, being moved by what’s broken, and thereby being transformed.

Timestamps

• Introduction to “Permacrisis” as backdrop: ~0:00

• What grief sounds like during sustained crises: ~8:45

• The role of lament — naming and staying with sorrow: ~16:30

• Burnout, compassion fatigue, and how they show up: ~27:10

• Faith-community practices for lament and resilience: ~35:45

• Institutional responses: how churches/organizations can hold grief: ~44:20

• Hope, transformation, and staying faithful amidst instability: ~53:00

• Closing reflections: ~1:01:15